Do Good Work. Work and Live Intentionally.

02/11/2014

The power of Twitter is in the ability to quickly see what is happening in any given situation. Think about the Arab Spring; it was amazing to see what was happening in Egypt through Twitter. One way that is accomplished is through hashtags.

One of the most universal hashtags is the weather! Whatever state you are in or traveling to you can search for weather. Media, storm watchers, local people and more use the tag.

The key is to use the #YOUR TWO LETTER STATE ABBREVIATION plus WX. SO, if you are in California it is #CAWX, although growing up there your weather doesn't change enough to even justify a weather person on the news!

02/06/2014

I see people struggling with to do overwhelm everyday online. The feeling of having too much to do and not enough time to do it. There is help, but you have to try these things to stop feeling that way.

Believe You Have Enough Time: This seems counter-intuitive, but the truth is we have enough time to do what we really want/need to do. If you spend all of your time whining about not having enough time then you have enough time to actually get something done.

Dump the Lingering Task: What we don't have time for is all the superfluous things that land in our lap. If there is something you really don't want to do then you aren't ever going to find time to do it. Figure out if it s a real thing or not. If it is a real thing, but you still aren't finding time for it; find someone else to do it for you even if you have to pay someone.

Master the Master List: You have to brain dump. There is no getting around this process. I like to keep a composition book that is just one big running list of stuff that I add to regularly. This is just every nagging thing that is running around in circles around my mind. If I don't put it down on paper it keeps me up at night, leaves me unfocused and stops me from actually doing anything. Get all of it out of you and on paper. Do this often.

Make a To Do List Every. Single. Day.: I know you don't want to. I don't want to. It seems like I can just wing it, but you know what, we can't. We need the focus and attention of the list because we are like crows going after the first shiny object. Write a short to do list either the night before or in the morning. Cross stuff off. It feels great.

Make an Action List: On that to do list that you are writing every single day make the items actionable. Don't write "shop"; instead write "go to the grocery store". Don't write "plan event"; write "write press release. If your list looks like a lot of places to go or things to do, but doesn't tell you what to do when you get there or start doing them you are typically overwhelmed by too big a task. "Plan event" is a huge list of to do's and only a few can be done at a time. Break them down on your messy master list and then start adding them with action items to your daily to do list.

02/05/2014

People ask me how I use Twitter a lot and I thought I would share one quick tip on how I use this social tool. You don't have to be overwhelmed! Twitter is a phenomenal tool for connecting to current events, watching live broadcasts, and keeping up with people that you have met at a conference or online. What I see most often is that people just don't know how to get above the constant stream of information and using lists is an easy way to stop swimming against the tide and plunging in right where you want to be.